Child vehicle safety seats in many jurisdictions are rendered compulsory by law. Generally, such child vehicle safety seats are centrally positioned in the back seat of an automobile or vehicle, as such center position is considered to be the most safe position against any frontal and/or side collision. Normally, such known safety seats are securely strapped to the rear seat, and become a fixture within the vehicle until the child has outgrown the need for such safety seat.
It has been observed that mothers and/or fathers of small children encounter considerable difficulty in lifting a baby or small child and placing such child in a centrally positioned safety seat. The process required picking up the child and leaning into the relatively cramped quarters of a rear seat of an automobile and then twisting in order to place the child in the forward facing car seat. The task becomes even more awkward and difficult with a squirming or defiant child, and especially more difficult if the child is rather large or heavy for his or her size or age. For a parent with a back problem, the difficulty of placing a small child in a car safety seat is further compounded. This is because the child must first be lifted and in a crouched or leaning position to place the child into the vehicle and then twisting one's body approximately ninety (90.degree.) degrees in such crouched position to place the child in the safety seat. With the child properly placed in the car seat, the parent, while still in the awkward and twisted position, must then buckle the harness to secure the child in the car seat.
In an effort to alleviate the difficulty of lifting and placing a child in a car seat as described, a swivel car seat has been suggested as noted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,392. However, such known swivel car seats pivoted about a center axis, and even in a pivoted position, the center of such swiveling child safety seat remains centered relative to the rear seat. With such swivel seats, the parent was still required to lift the child and in a leaning position place the child in the centrally located car seat. Such activity of lifting and placing a child in a centrally positioned car seat tends to cause excessive stress on the body of the parent or person doing the lifting, and which task is aggravated for those persons having limited or impaired movement, e.g. a pregnant mother, or one having a weak back or a lumbar condition. Another known child seat is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,094,356. However, it is subject to the same deficiencies hereinabove noted. U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,559 discloses a patient conveyance device for transporting semi-ambulatory patients between bed, wheelchair, and bathroom facilities, etc.
As a result of the difficulties encountered in seating a small child in a car safety seat located centrally of the rear seat, many parents locate the child's seat as close to the door as possible rather than positioning the child seat at the centermost position. In doing so, the parent is sacrificing safety for convenience, which is undesirable.